American Go E-Journal » Go Art

Amazing Kids Art: “That art is amazing! (Missing Children’s Go Art 4/9 EJ),” writes Lee Frankel-Goldwater. “The AGA should do this kind of contest and display winning entries in the main hall of the year’s Congress! Maybe in coordination with Canada and Europe and offer some prize (camp scholarship?) to the winner(s).” That’s basically what the AGA and AGF have done for the past two years. “We haven’t given the kids scholarships, but they have won prizes for their entries,” says Paul Barchilon. “People also bid on the art last year, and a fair amount of money was raised. The money went both to the children and to support Comunidad Mexicana de Go Infantil y Juvenal (Mexican Youth Go Community), who run the event, and are led by Siddhartha Avila. Last year’s exhibit was a big hit, and I am sure we will do it again this year.” Barchilon also notes that a Facebook page for the art competition has just been launched; check it out here.

Choose Your Frequency: “The AGA news email is relentless,” writes Lloyd Westerman. “I would read a condensed version, with major headlines, once a month.” While we’re very proud of our thorough and timely coverage of the world go scene, we understand that not everyone wants to hear the latest news right away, and offer a weekly compilation. Switching is easy: go to “UPDATE YOUR PROFILE” at the bottom of the E-Journal and select the desired frequency (weekly or daily); you can also select your preferred format (HTML, text or mobile).Graphic: “Dragon Slay – A Fighting Game,” April Ye, Cupertino, USA

“I wanted to show the students of the school club that I advise the winning artwork from one of the International Children’s Go Art Painting Contests,” writes Richard Moseson, “but I can’t find where it is. I found this article (Soo, Ganeva, and Ye Top Children’s Art Contest 8/27/2012 EJ), but the link to ‘the top 20 pieces’ is dead. Can you tell me where I can find some of the art?”For now, your best bet is on the Go Symposium’s International Go Art Contest page. Graphic: “Having fun with Go,”Hana Richelle Tan, Manila, Philippines

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for The Surrounding Game documentary team. They launched an online “collaborative game,” premiered an extended preview of the film at last weekend’s well-attended Spring Go Expo in Boston and kicked off a campaign to raise $30,000 to finish their film. Director Will Lockhart is especially excited about the collaborative game, saying that “You can go to the game and vote for your move, and at the end of the day the votes are tallied and one move is played per day! I think it should lead to a very interesting game.” An interesting thing to consider, says Lockhart, is “what level of play is reached when each move is decided by democratic vote?” The fundraiser aims to raise the caliber and potential impact of the The Surrounding Game “by hiring a professional editor and paying for legitimate distribution,” Lockhart explains. With less than a month to go, they’ve raised almost $6,000 thus far; click here to see who’s contributed.

The Walthers brothers are tantalizingly close to raising the $8,000 they need to create a free movie trailer(German Brothers Team Up to Produce “Fascinating” Go Video 2/4/2013 EJ) to inspire more go enthusiasts. Sven Walther, a go player and computer scientist, and his brother Lars, an actor and filmmaker, plan to make the video available on YouTube, so anyone “can use it to promote the game wherever you want.” Their goal “is not to explain the rules, but to create some fascinating atmosphere to represent the game. The novice will see it and say ‘Whoa, what’s that game? Wanna learn more!’” The project will only receive funds if at least $8,000 is raised by Monday, March 25 at 11:59PM PT.- Annalia Linnan

A go board shows up in New World, the 2013 South Korean noir film written and directed by Park Hoon-jung. Starring Lee Jung-jae, Choi Min-shik and Hwang Jung-min, the film — released just last month — shows the conflict between the police and the mob through the eyes of an undercover cop. Click here to see a trailer.Thanks to Vincent DiMattia for the tip.

Almost exactly a year since co-directors Will Lockhart and Cole Pruitt decided to shoot a documentary on the game of go — The Surrounding Game — the team is moving into the next phase of the project. “We have come a very long way and the filming itself is almost complete, but we still have a long way to go to get to a finished film” says Lockhart. The team filmed at the 2012 U.S. Go Congress and AGA Pro Tournament last summer, traveled to China and Korea in the fall, and spent the winter organizing their extensive footage. “We’re now launching a second fundraiser to raise money for post-production, including hiring a full-time editor, commissioning original music, and digital mastering of the film,” says Lockhart. A new fundraising goal of $30,000 has been set to reach a final cut of the film.

The new fundraiser begins this Saturday, March 9 and will operate via The Surrounding Game’s brand new website, which also features a recently-released trailer for the film. “We are adding Chinese- and Korean-language options for the site to make the project and fundraiser accessible to an international audience, and we’ll be offering a ton of new rewards which weren’t available the first time around,” says Pruitt. We want “The Surrounding Game” to be as well-produced as it can possibly be, and we hope you’ll share the project with your friends and family and help us reach our goal.” He also noted that last year “we passed our initial goal quickly thanks to a lot of support from EJ readers.”- screencaps from the latest Surrounding Game trailer

“We’ve just put our new extended trailer on YouTube,” reports The Surrounding Game co-director Cole Pruitt. “Plus, thanks to help from several American go contacts, we’re working with the Nihon Ki-in to schedule a trip to Japan sometime later this summer, hopefully to coincide with a big amateur go festival in August. In March, at the Spring Go Expo, we’ll interview a Japanese 4p who will be coming to the US for a month for promotional purposes.”

A new Korean comic book provides a view of Korean corporate life through the eyes of a former go player. In Misaeng, artist/author Yoon Taeho “ describes the claustrophobic interpersonal relations between employees of Korean corporations, focusing on the banality of everyday life and the little struggles and tiny victories of survival in a corporate culture,” writes Emanuel Pastreich on his blog, Korea: Circles and Squares.

“The protagonist of Misaeng is Jang Gurae, a young man who starts out as an apprentice to the national baduk Association. After his father’s sudden death, Jang Gurae finds his family in serious financial straits. When he fails to qualify as a baduk player, he enters the corporate world. Quiet and introspective, baduk is the underlying formula for his survival.” Pastreich calls Misaeng “a remarkable work of art that deserves to be widely read and analyzed.” Unfortunately, it’s currently only available in Korean.Thanks to Go Game Guru’s David Ormerod for passing this along.

Insight Into the Universe is a new film about Yasui Santetsu, a go player and famous Japanese astronomer, better known as Shibukawa Shunkai. The creator of the Japanese Jokyo calendar and the author of many books about astronomy, he also played with his friend and rival, Honinbo Dosaku, in the “castle games.” The famous game between Dosaku and Santetsu, where Santetsu opened on tengen, is depicted in the 2012 film, which was directed by Yojiro Takita and stars Junichi Okada, a Japanese actor, singer, and member of the pop group V6. The heroine in the film, played by Miyazaki Aoi, works at a shrine which still exists today; click here to see Cho U 9p dedicating some of his famous go problems to that shrine. An English-subtitled version of the film does not appear to be available at this time.- thanks to Go Game Guru